Method of lining can ends



Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

N [N VEN TOR.

WITNESS N.A.A CKER. METHOD OF LINING CAN ENDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30.1917.

Patented Apr 6, 1920.

2 SHEETSASHEET 2.'

IN VENTOR ww mm m rrnn STATES PATENT oruion.

NICHOLAS A. AGKER, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CAN COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.. A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF LINING CAN ENDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

Application filed March 30, 1917. Serial No. 158,702.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS A. Acnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Lining Can Ends, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a method of applying gasket liners to can ends and to provide packing material at the seam between the can end and the can body.

In the so-called sanitary type of cans as used principally for the preservation of food products the can ends are united to the can body by having adjacent flanges interfolded to form a seam, and suitable packing material is interposed between the adjacent flanges of the end and the body to form a tight and permanent seal. Practice has demonstrated that the most satisfactory form of packing material consists of a ring liner of paper or other similar fibrous material loosely applied to the flange of the can end before said end is placed upon the can body.

The ring liners forming the packing material between the can end and the can body have heretofore been cut as annular rings by a suitable die from a blank or web or sheet of the liner material usually paper. Under this method of forming ring liners, there is considerable waste, for although a number of liners of successively smaller cliameters can be cut from single blank, there is necessarily a core, stamped out from the smallest innermost liner, which is wasted; and in addition, there is inevitable waste around the outside of the largest liner cut from the blank.

lhe object of the present invention is to provide a method of lining can ends from a continuous strip of liner material. By so doing, practically all waste is eliminated, inasmuch as the liner material is made and received in the form of a continuous strip of the proper width for application to the flange of the can end. Moreover, a continuous strip of liner material can be applied to the can end flange by comparatively simple and inexpensive mechanism without danger of mutilation. The elimination of waste not only reduces the cost of lining the can ends by a direct saving of material, but also reduces the total amount of liner material handled, thus reducing the transportation and other charges incident thereto.

In its preferred form my invention comprises a method of lining can ends with a continuous strip of liner material, said strip being supplied in the form of a helix having a diameter equal to the diameter of the flange of the can end. It is not my intention however, to limit myself to this form of liner material, but to include other forms capable of supplying the material as a continuous strip. Broadly stated, the invention comprises a method of feeding a continuous strip of liner material to the flanges of can ends to form in each flange an annular gasket liner, and I am aware that any suitably constructed machine may be employed.

In the accompanying drawings is illustrated a preferred form of apparatus for carrying out the various steps of my process, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the com plete apparatus, and

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on a plane represented by the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates a base or bed-plate which is shown as supported by suitable legs 2. Mounted upon the base 1 are journal brackets 3, which support a horizontally disposed drive shaft el having upon its outer end a pulley 5 adapted to receive power from an outside source not shown in the drawings. A. clutch is interposed between the pulley 5 and the drive shaft 4 to permit said pulley to run idly upon said shaft. This clutch comprises a dog 6, suitably mounted in the drive shaft and pressed outwardly by a spring 7 to engage any one of a series of notches 8 formed in the hub 9 of the pulley 5. A finger 10 carried by a lever arm 11 is adapted to be moved into a position to engage the dog 6 at a certain point in its ro tation and by such engagement to depress said dog to free the same from the hub 9 of the pulley 5. The outer end of the lever arm 11 is connected with a lineally movable rod '12 provided at its end with a handle and normally held in an outward position by a spring let. The spring 14L holds the parts in position to cause the linger .10 to lie in the path of the dog 6, and thereby free the same from the hub 9 in the pulley 5. Thus when the rod 12 is temporarily moved inwardly by the operator, the finger 10 is carried out of engagement with the dog 6 and said dog is thereby caused to engage one of the notches S of the pulley hub 9. The shaft l then rotates with the pulley 5 for one revolution or until the dog (5 again passes under the finger 10, which has in the meantime been returned to its normal position by the spring let, and thereby disconnects said shaft 4 from the pulley 5. Thus at each operation of the handle 13 the shaft a makes one complete revolution, at the end of which it stops.

The shaft 4: carries, between the journals 3, a bevel gear 15 which meshes with and drives a similar gear 16 mounted upon a short vertical shaft jonrnaled in the base 1 at 17. A spur gear 18 is mounted upon said shaft below the bevel gear 16 and meshes with and drives an idler gear 19 similarly journaled in the base 1 at 20. Said idler gear in turn meshes with and drives a third spur gear 21 mounted upon a short vertical shaft journaled in the base 1 at 22. The up per face of the spur 21 is formed as a an end chuck to carr and to rotate the can end 23 to be lined. The can end 23 thus rotates continuously during the cycle of operations, the gearing being so proportioned as to impart to said can end a little over one complete revolution during one revolution of the drive shaft 4.

Positioned above the can end 23 and in axial alinement therewith is a mandrel 2% adapted to carry the liner material in the form of a continuous closely wound helix 25, whose diameter is equal to the diameter of the flange of the can end into which the liner is to be placed. The mandrel 2% is mounted upon a vertical shaft 26fwhich e):- tends through and has a-bearing-in a bracket 2? supported above the base 1. The bracket 27 carries a fixed plate 28 which lies immediately beneath the mandrel 2e. and which ha an outside diameter equal to or greater than the outside diameter of the helix of liner material 25. Immediately below said fixed plate 28 a hevel gear 29 is mounted upon the al mandrel shaft 26 and meshes with and ' mounted'upoh the end of the drive shaft l.

T he fixed plate which lies immediatelv beneath the helix carrying mandrel 2d. and

1S.(l1'lV.G1l by a similar bevel gear 30 the shaft 4,- innnediately back of the end bevel gear 30, and the liner strip, after passing approximately three-fourths of the way around the beveled surface 32, is transferred to the beveled surface 33 and follows the same forwardly and downwardly. It is understood that the beveled surfaces 32 and 33 are properly formed to permit the liner strip to lie fiat thereupon without lateral bending or breaking. A feed roll 34, adapted to coact with the beveled flange 33, and to feed the liner strip between itself and said beveled flange is mounted upon a horizontal shaft 35 positioned parallel with the shaft 4: and driven therefrom at the proper speed by means of a pair of gears 36 and 37. The liner stri) illustrated at 25 l in Fig. 1 of the drawings, after passing between the feed roll 34 and the beveled flange 33, passes through a fixed guide 38 which guides said liner strip into a proper position for feeding into the flange .of the can end 23 resting upon. the gear 21. A presser roll 39 is positioned to bear upon said liner strip 25 and to press the same into the flange of the can end 2- Said presser roll is mounted upon a shaft journaled within a bracket 40 and carrying on its outer end a bevel gear ll adapted to mesh with andbe driven by a similar gear 42, mounted upon a third horizontal shaft as, journaled V in suitable brackets 44. A pair of spur gears 4.5 and 46 mounted respectively upon said third shaft l3and the main drive shaft 4i impart motion to said third shaft 43 and thereby cause the presser roll 39 to rotate at the proper speed to lay the liner strip within the flange of the can end 23. r

The bracket 40 which carries the presser roll shaft is pivotally mounted at 47 upon the end of the horizontal shaft 43, and is connected by means of a downwardly projecting lug 48 with one arm of a bell-crank 4-9 whose other arm is connected by a link 50 and a lever 51 with a rock-shaft 52 carried in a journal 53 supported by the base 1. The other end of the rock-shaft 52 carries a lever arm 54L, upon whose end is mounted a cam following roller 55 adapted to lie within and follow groove 56 formed in a cam member 57 mounted upon the shaft 43. By ieans of the mechanism just described the presser roll 39 is lifted out of contact with the can end flange at the end of each cycle of operations, to permit the can end to be removed from its chuck and an unlined end to be placed thereupon. Immediately upon the beginning of the cycle of operations the presser roll 39 is moved downwardly into contact with the liner strip to press the same into the can end flange, and is held in'this position until the complete liner is applied.

'lheshaft 43 carries a second cani member 58 in whose face is formed a cam groove 59, which actuates, by means of a roller 60,

a sliding pllmger 61 carrying on its end a knife 62 adapted to cut the liner strip within the curved guide 38. The cam groove 59 is so formed that the liner strip 25 is cut at the proper time to supply the requisite length of strip for the lining of the can end. After the strip 25 has been cut, the cut end portion of the same is fed into the can end flange by the presser roll 39 and the end of the uncut portion of said strip is advanced at the same speed by the feed roll 3% into a position in readiness to be applied to the succeeding can end.

I prefer to unite the ends of the liner strip together after the same has been severed and placed within the can end flange to form a continuous annular ring liner, and for this purpose there is provided a receptacle 63 adapted to contain an adhesive or other cement material and provided with a drip spout 6%, through which said adhesive is discharged very slowly. The receptacle 63 is carried upon a vertically slidable member 65 supported by a fixed bracket 66 and adapted for vertical movement therein. A downwardly projecting finger 67 carried by the receptacle support 65 is adapted to ride upon a cam surface 68 formed upon the upper face of the gear 21 in the peripheral region thereof. The action of said cam surface is such as to depress the adhesive receptacle 6 3 at the proper time in the revolution of the can end to cause the drip spout 64: to deposit a small amount of the adhesive upon the initial end portion of the ring liner placed within the flange of the can end 23. Thus when the final end of the liner strip is led within the can end flange and overlaps the initial end portion thereof, the two ends are secured together by the adhesive deposited upon said initial end portion. The adhesive receptacle 63 is understood to be held, by the mechanism described, free of the liner strip during the remainder of the rotation of the can end 23.

In the machine illustrated in the drawings, I have shown no means for placing the can end 23 upon its chuck and for removing the same therefrom. It is understood that said end may be placed upon said chuck by hand or by any desired mechanism and may be similarly removed. I have shown an axially disposed spring pressed plunger 69 carried by the mandrel shaft 26 and adapted to bear against the can end to retain the same in position upon its chuck.

In the carrying out of the invention, a helix of liner material 25 is placed upon the mandrel 24. An unlined can end 23 is placed upon the chuck formed upon the upper surface of the gear 21. The end of the liner strip is led through the groove 31 in the fixed plate 28, around the beveled upper surface 32 of the gear 29 and the beveled flange 33 carried by the shaft 4, and under the feed roll 34. Said liner strip is then passed through the curved guide 38 and its end placed within the flange of the can end 23 under the presser roll 39. The mechanism is then started by means of the clutch operating handle 13, and the can end is rotated and the liner strip automatically advanced by said mechanism as previously described. 1Vhen the requisite length of liner strip has been fed, the knife 62 operates to cut the same. The continued motion of the parts of the machine thereafter places the remainder of the cut portion of the liner strip within the flange of the can ends 28, the ends of said out portion being glued together as above described. At the same time the uncut end of the liner strip is advanced by the feed roll 34E into position to be fed into the groove of the succeeding can end. Vhen the complete liner has been applied to the can end flange, and when the end of the uncut strip is in position for starting its application to the flange of the succeeding can end, the presser r011 39 is raised free of the liner strip and the can end, and the mechanism automatically stops to permit the lined can end to be removed and an unlined end substituted therefor.

Having thus described my invention what J I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1. The method of preparing flanged can ends for hermetic scaling to can bodies, which comprises placing within the flange of a positioned can end a strip of fibrous liner material with the ends of the strip overlapping, and uniting said overlapping ends after the liner has been deposited onto the flange of the can end to form a continuous gasket liner.

2. The method of lining flanged can ends for use in the hermetic sealing of food containers, which comprises positioning strip of fibrous material relative to the flange of a can end, cutting the said strip to cause the separated ends thereof to overlap, and uniting the adjacent ends of the said out portion to form an endless ring liner when positioned onto the flange of the can end.

3. The method of preparing flanged can ends, having grooves for the reception of the can body flanges, for hermetic sealing with said body flange, which consists in applying the end of a strip of gasket material within said groove, then progressively applying the following portions of said strip within the groove and causing the ends of said strip to overlap after they have been inserted within said groove, and uniting said ends to form a ring liner or gasket.

a. The method of lining flanged can ends which comprises feeding a continuous strip of liner material into the flange of a can end, cutting said strip, and when said flange has been completely lined uniting the adjacent from a continuous strip of liner material ends of the cut portion of said strip to form which consists in feeding said strip from a an endless ring liner Within said flange. helical coil cutting off a portion of said 5. The method of lining flanged can ends strip, advancing said out portion and plac- 15 5 from .a continuous strip of liner material ing the same Within the flange of a rotating which-comprisescutting off a portion of said can end, and uniting the adjacent ends of strip, placing the out portion within the said out portion to form aring liner within flange of a can end, and uniting the adja said flange. cent ends of said out portion to form an In testimony whereof I my signature 20 10 end-less ring liner within said flange. hereto.

6. The method of lining flanged can ends NICHOLAS A. ACKER. 

